The basic track for Ma-Ma-Ma Belle was originally recorded at AIR Studios in the UK in April, 1973 during sessions comically referred to at the time as the Elizabeth Lister Observatory (E.L.O.) sessions that also produced Showdown and Dreaming Of 4000. The song was recorded with only two takes, with the second take being the released album/single version. It is uncertain when the vocals and strings were recorded, although it's very possible it was done the same day.

The song, supposedly written (at least in part) on a toilet (according to Tony Beard), was demoed to the rest of the band in March of that year in a very rough format using just rhythm guitar and rough vocals by Jeff with Richard Tandy assisting on keyboard. Being just a month later that it was recorded, the band had worked up the song and practiced it well enough to do it in two quick takes while in the studio. Early working titles for the song were Auntie, Auntie Bollocks (an inside joke) and My Woman (heard as a lyric on the demo). The meaning of "Auntie" as a title is unknown.

During the studio recording, Marc Bolan of T. Rex fame was present and played on several ELO tracks, including Ma-Ma-Ma Belle. He and Jeff play co-lead guitar throughout. The first take is only the guitar, bass and drums of the intro, first verse and first chorus. It was probably done only as an experiment to see how the co-lead guitar idea would work. Having deemed it successful, they recorded Take 2 of the full song and that is the take used for the final releases.

The Releases and the Charts: Ma-Ma-Ma Belle was released as a single (Warner Brothers K 16349) on March 9, 1974 in the UK with an edit of Oh No Not Susan from the On The Third Day album on the B-side. It was the first single on the Warner Brothers label for ELO in the UK. It was the first and only UK single release in the UK from the On The Third Day album, which had been released three months earlier in December 1973. It was the sixth track on the UK album. On March 9, the song entered the UK Singles Chart Top 50 and it peaked at #22 on April 6 for a total run of 8 weeks on the chart.

In the USA, the single (United Artists UA-XW 405-W) was released on February 1974 with a slight edit of Daybreaker (removing the interlude) from the On The Third Day album on the B-side. Ma-Ma-Ma Belle was also released on November 1973 as the seventh track on the On The Third Day album, with the different track placement on the album, compared to the UK album, because the USA album included the Showdown song which was not included on the UK album. The song failed to chart at all on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, however, during ELO's USA tour, DJs flipped the single and made the B-side, Daybreaker, a very minor hit. Daybreaker entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart on May 4, 1974 and peaked at #87 on May 25, 1974 after a run of 5 weeks on the chart. Similarly, on the Cash Box Top 100 chart, Ma-Ma-Ma Belle failed to chart, but the Daybreaker B-side entered the chart on April 20, 1974, peaking at #61 on June 1, with a total run of 8 weeks on the chart.

The song was reused as the B-side of the 1976 USA Livin' Thing single (United Artists UA-XW 888-Y). That's not to say that this was a double A-side single, though. It was probably done in part to help promote the older albums (which was common for ELO singles at this time) as well as promote the recent Olι ELO release and a song that was proving popular in ELO's live shows.

Phased String Interlude: The UK single version of Ma-Ma-Ma Belle contains a unique rising string interlude following the second chorus that is not heard on the album version. This short segment is actually lifted from the song Dreaming Of 4000 where it is extracted from that song, flipped backwards, a flange effect is added and it's inserted into Ma-Ma-Ma Belle's UK single mix. A sample demonstrating it can be heard HERE which plays the Ma-Ma-Ma Belle segment forward, then backward, then the section of Dreaming Of 4000 that it's taken from.

The Song's Meaning: Both the song's lyrics and meaning of the "Ma-Ma-Ma Belle" name are not entirely clear. The name appears to be a girl's name as Jeff is singing to her ("Can't you hear me, Ma-Ma-Ma Belle..."). It's an unusual name. The song is likely inspired by The Beatles' 1965 song Michelle, having the lyric "Michelle, ma belle" in it, with Jeff just extending the name. On several interviews, when referring to the song, he sometimes refers to the song by the shortened "Ma Belle" or "Ma-Ma Belle" name. In America, "Ma Bell" is also a colloquialism for the telephone companies (a reference to Southwestern Bell when they had a monopoly), but this is very unlikely to have any link to the song.

So what exactly is the song about? On the surface, the lyrics appear to be about Jeff singing his love for the song's title character, saying how much he wants to get her and make her his. Although not entirely overt, when digging deeper into the song it appears to be about a pimp and a prostitute, with the singer being the pimp and Ma-Ma-Ma Belle being the prostitute who has turned on him. He says that he's "got good love waiting for you", he refers to having "three or four babies" available and he's on the "corner of the avenue" which all imply that he's the pimp trying to sell the prostitutes on the corner. In the second verse, he is in prison when he must now "serve [his] time" and "keep on with [his] heavy load", but it seems that Ma-Ma-Ma Belle has apparently turned on him as the "one thing that's on [his] mind" is to "[get] hold of [her]". Throughout most of the song he sings about getting her. Despite it all, he also loves her as shown in the third verse although the "gonna get you in the corner so that I can keep [you]" may imply something more sinister about his intentions. All this, it should be stated, is open to interpretation.

With the above said, it's a rather unusual theme for a Jeff Lynne song, although perhaps not so unusual given that many of the early ELO songs had some heavy themes (such as Kuiama being about war and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder). Or perhaps the prostitute theme is not so accurate and it's a simple song about his love of a woman.

Not a Hit Song: The song was never a big hit and failed to chart at all outside the UK where it peaked at #22. Yet it continued to appear on best-of compilations and various collections over the years alongside other much, much bigger ELO hits. Why? This is likely just because Jeff likes the song. He has consistently added it to compilations that he has had control over, such as the 1979 ELO's Greatest Hits album and the 2005 All Over The World: The Very Best Of Electric Light Orchestra album as well as the 2012 re-recording on the Mr. Blue Sky The Very Best Of Electric Light Orchestra album.

It also remained a consistent addition to the ELO live set, usually as one of the closing numbers. As a heavy rocker, it was a perfect song to play to an excited audience at the end of the show. This may have also helped to make the song popular with audiences, despite never having been a chart success.

Possible Plagiarism?: The main riff of Ma-Ma-Ma Belle bears a remarkable similarity in parts to the Mott the Hoople song Jerkin' Crocus from their 1972 All The Young Dudes album. A sample can be heard HERE which demonstrates the two song's intros as well as part of the Jerkin' Crocus chorus and a Ma-Ma-Ma Belle verse that are also quite similar. No other parts of the two songs are as similar so they're not completely comparable, but they are remarkably close.

The Re-recorded Version: In the late 2000s and/or early 2010s, Jeff re-recorded the song as a solo version (with Marc Mann helping on cello) of the song in his home studio in Los Angeles. The reason for the re-recording of this and other ELO hits was done, according to Jeff, because he didn't care for the lack of clarity in his early recordings and he wanted to re-create them now that he had better equipment, techniques and experience. There has been some suggestions, denied by Jeff, that they were recorded so that Jeff could retain the full copyright on the recordings as well as license them out for use in film and 5.1 mixes. This re-recording of Ma-Ma-Ma Belle is on the deluxe download edition of Mr. Blue Sky The Very Best Of Electric Light Orchestra exclusively available in the USA iTunes store.

This solo version stays faithful to the original recording; although the various vocal ad-libs in the closing choruses are changed up a little bit as Jeff was obviously just feeling the song and not trying to perfectly recreate these nuances.

The Album Interludes: The On The Third Day album includes several interludes between songs. These are often quiet, dreamy little bits of songs on piano, violin and/or synthesizer meant to bridge songs together. These little sections have caused a lot of confusion in regards to the individual songs on the album.

Preceding Ma-Ma-Ma Belle on the album is a short piano section. On all On The Third Day releases (but one described below), this is always attached to the end of the Daybreaker track. Could this be considered an interlude or an intro to Ma-Ma-Ma Belle? Because, it is always attached to the end of Daybreaker, it is not considered to be part of Ma-Ma-Ma Belle at all. This section is, however, attached to the beginning of Ma-Ma-Ma Belle on the 1995 Strange Magic: The Best Of Electric Light Orchestra compilation, which is clearly in error.

The ending of the song seems to be where much of the confusion and challenges lie. The original album version features a distinctive cross-fade ending where the Ma-Ma-Ma Belle song proper fades at song's end and is blended with the fading in of a discordant chamber orchestra section. This section continues for about five seconds when the drum and synthesizer of Dreaming Of 4000 begins. Is this ending orchestra section to be considered one of the On The Third Day interludes, the ending of Ma-Ma-Ma Belle or the beginning of Dreaming Of 4000? In reality, it should be considered an album interlude as it clearly has no relation to either of the album's song other than to bridge the two of them. On all On The Third Day releases (not single or compilation), it is always attached to the end of the Ma-Ma-Ma Belle track and the Dreaming Of 4000 track starts directly with the synthesizer and drum. Because of this, for the purposes of this analysis, the ending interlude with the cross-fade is considered to be the ending of Ma-Ma-Ma Belle. In reality, this is not likely the true case.

This ending and the cross-fade seem to have caused a great deal of difficulty with the song on singles and various compilations. Great effort and variability exist on how it was dealt with. When the song was issued on these items, it was always faded either with a portion of the interlude fade-in included at the end of the fade or completely faded before the cross-fade even starts.

For the 2006 remaster release of On The Third Day, the regular album version with the full ending with the cross-fade and interlude was not used. Instead, it used the faded ending that first appeared on the Afterglow compilation (although thankfully without the added reverb). It's uncertain whether this was done in error or because Jeff, who was responsible for the remasters, made a conscious decision to make the change.

Structure and Lyrics

Below is the structure of the complete version of the song as it was released on the original On The Third Day albums.

Original Electric Light Orchestra Version

Lyric sheet from UK On The Third Day album

Lyric sheet from USA On The Third Day album

-Solo Guitar Riff #1
-Cello Riff
-Solo Guitar Riff #2
-Guitar, Drum and Cello Lead-in
-Verse 1Got love, if that's what you need
I got three * or four babies sittin' on my knee
I got good love waiting for you
I come sneakin' 'round the corner of the avenue
-Cello Riff
-Chorus 1You got Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, or I will get you
You know you got Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, I will get you
-Solo Guitar Riff #1
-Cello Riff
-Solo Guitar Riff #2
-Drum and Cello Lead-in
-Guitar Riff (2 parts)
-Verse 2There's one thing that's on my mind
And that's a-getting hold of you before I serve my time
I gotta keep on with my heavy load
'Til I see you come a-strollin' down that open road
-Cello Riff
-Chorus 2You gotta Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, before I get you
Don't you know you gotta Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, or I will get you
Don't you feel it's over Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, I will get you
You know it's all about Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, or I will get you
-Solo Guitar Riff #1
-Solo Guitar Riff #2
-Drum and Cello Lead-in
-Cello Riff
-Verse 3I love you Ma-Ma-Ma Belle
That's why I wanna get it on, well I'm sure you can tell
I got good soul, runnin' so deep
Gonna get you in the corner so that I can keep
-Cello Riff
-Chorus 3Can't you hear me woman, Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, or I will get you, yeah
You know I wanna Ma-Ma Belle, or I will get you, yeah
Can't you go about Ma-Ma Belle, or I will get you, yeah
'Cause it's all about Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, or I will get you, yeah
-Chorus 4You gotta Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, gonna see ya down-town, get 'round
Gonna see about Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, gonna see you 'round, 'round, get 'round, down
Gonna see about Ma-- no, belle, I wanna get down, get down, get down**
Gonna see about Ma-Ma-Ma Belle...
-Orchestral Album Interlude

The March 1973 demo is a very raw version of Jeff playing the rhythm guitar of the verses, while mumbling some lyrics that vary from the final release. The main chorus lyric in this demo is "My Woman" rather than "Ma-Ma-Ma Belle" although Jeff does sing "Ma-Ma Belle" (two "Ma's") in one of the verses and that is probably where the idea of the song's character came from.

Most of the release variations can be broken into two basic categories: the album version variations and the single version variations.

Album Version Variations: The original album version runs 3:52 and includes the distinctive cross-fade ending with an On The Third Day album interlude. The USA single version used the album version, but fades completely just before the start of the cross-fade. The version that appeared on the Olι ELO album fades very quickly just as the cross-fade part begins. The Australian 18 Greatest Hits compilation (K-tel NA 674) also fades near the song's end, matching the Olι ELO edit; what makes it unique is that it includes a unique cut of two lines from the third chorus, ostensibly to make the song shorter as this was done to all songs on the album. The 1978 The ELO EP set contains a version that fades just at the end of the last vocal line, which means that part of the cross-fade is included. Finally, the 1990 Afterglow compilation ends the fade just after the cross-fade ending, including all of Ma-Ma-Ma Belle proper and a small portion, but not all, of the On The Third Day interlude.

A sample some of these variable endings can be heard HERE. The sample is first the original album version (from the first USA On The Third Day CD), the second is from The ELO EP (with fade) the third is the version found on the Afterglow CD (with another fade) and the fourth and final is the Olι ELO version (with much earlier fade).

Single Version Variations: The single version, originally appearing on the UK single (Warner Brothers K 16349), but not the USA single, features some unique edits and the addition of a unique phased rising string interlude just after the second chorus. For edits, it shortened the instrumental bridge between the first chorus and second verse by editing together the first part of the first guitar riff and the second part of the second guitar riff. It also cut the third line from the second chorus and the whole first guitar riff from the second instrumental bridge before the third verse and just after the newly inserted phased string interlude. Like the album version, the fade out also had to deal with the cross-fade at song's end. The single version includes most of what's heard on the album, but of course fades at the end of the last heard line, cutting off only about a second.

This single version also appeared, quite by accident, on a UK reissue of the On The Third Day album. When Jet Records changed distributors in the UK to United Artists in 1977, all prior ELO albums were reissued under the new label. In the process, a mistake was made and the UK single version of Ma-Ma-Ma Belle was put on the On The Third Day reissue (United Artists UAG 30091). This version, unlike the single, includes the full On The Third Day interlude at song's end.

In 1997, the Light Years: The Very Best Of Electric Light Orchestra compilation was released and it featured yet another variation of this single version. The compilation was created to be a collection of the ELO singles, including all the single versions. Many of the unique versions were recreated from sources other than the original mixes, and the attempt to recreate the UK single version of Ma-Ma-Ma Belle included a couple of errors. Most notable, the phased string interlude was not phased! In addition, the fourth line from the third chorus is cut, rather than the third line as done on the UK single. It is a curious thing to happen, so it is unknown where the creators of the compilation would have gotten the unphased bit to add to the song other than the original tapes. It may be that they found the original tapes with the mixes for the single, but chose the wrong mix. Further, this Light Years edit includes a slight variation of the cross-fade fade out, fading a tad bit earlier than the UK single version that it hoped to imitate. This version also appeared on the 2001 The Ultimate Collection compilation as it was simply a reissue of the same compilation.

In addition to the above, several early mixes of the song have been released over the years.

Early Mix Variations: The Take 1 version is only guitar, bass and drums for the intro, first verse and first chorus. This was not the released take and is likely just a test of the co-lead guitar idea, thus it's not complete.

Other early mix releases are described as on their releases as "Auntie (Ma-Ma-Ma Belle - Early Version)", "My Woman (Ma-Ma-Ma Belle - Early Version)", and "Auntie (Ma-Ma-Ma Belle Take 2)". All are actually Take 2, but simply different mixes of it. The first two were first made available in 1991 on the Early ELO (1971-1973) compilation, with "Auntie (Ma-Ma-Ma Belle - Early Version)" mostly matching the released version but of course with a different mix sounding like an experiment with the guitars as the cellos are pushed down in the mix. Similarly, the "My Woman (Ma-Ma-Ma Belle - Early Version)" track is mostly the same, but with the cellos louder in the mix as it's probably an experiment with the cellos, rather than the guitars. The "Auntie (Ma-Ma-Ma Belle Take 2)" version is again basically the same, but the raw instrumentation is much closer to the final song, with little pushed down in the mix. It's missing any added effects and all have Jeff's raw, uneffected vocals. There is an additional version labeled as Auntie Bollocks according to a Face The Music fanzine that remains unreleased.

Solo Version: The solo version released in 2012 is generally quite faithful to the original recording, with most of the variation being in some of the extra vocal bits in the final choruses as Jeff was feeling the song and obviously not working so hard to match all the nuances of the original recording. He also seems to have dealt with the cross-fade ending by instead adding a keyboard effect that somewhat imitates the chamber orchestra bit at the end of the original recording. This keyboard effect fades in, just like the original, and then fades out after the Ma-Ma-Ma Belle song proper ends, just as on the Afterglow compilation.

Song Section

Lyric/Part

Standard On The Third Day Album Release

USA Single Version
Mono USA Single Version

Olι ELO Album Version

The ELO EP Version

18 Greatest Hits LP Version

Afterglow Album Version



UK Single Version

UK United Artists On The Third Day LP Version

Light Years Album Version



Auntie (Ma-Ma-Ma Belle Take 2 Early Mix #1)

My Woman (Ma-Ma-Ma Belle Take 2 Early Mix #2)

Auntie (Ma-Ma-Ma Belle Take 2 Early Mix #3)



Solo Version

Intro

Solo Guitar Riff #1

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

Cello Riff

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

Solo Guitar Riff #2

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

Guitar, Drum and Cello Lead-in

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES, but guitar is abruptly mixed down

YES, but guitar is abruptly mixed down

YES, but guitar is mixed down



YES

Verse 1

Got love, if that's what you need

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

I got three or four babies sittin' on my knee

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

I got good love waiting for you

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES, with cello run much louder in the mix

YES, with cello run much louder in the mix

YES, with cello run much louder in the mix



YES

I come sneakin' 'round the corner of the avenue

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES, but lyric slightly changed to I come a-sneakin' 'round the corner of the avenue

Cello Riff

Cello Riff

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

YES, but cello is mixed out

YES



YES

Chorus 1

You got Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, or I will get you

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

You know you got Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, I will get you

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES, but lyrics slightly changed to You got Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, I will get you

Instrumental Bridge 1

Solo Guitar Riff #1 (first half)

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

Solo Guitar Riff #1 (second half)

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



-

-

-



YES

YES

YES



YES

Cello Riff

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



-

-

-



YES

YES

YES



YES

Solo Guitar Riff #2 (first half)

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



-

-

-



YES, but some guitar is mixed out

YES

YES



YES

Solo Guitar Riff #2 (second half)

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES, but some guitar is mixed out

YES

YES



YES

Drum and Cello Lead-in

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES, but cellos are mixed out

YES, but cellos are mixed out

YES



YES

Guitar Riff (2 parts)

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES, but guitar riffs are pushed down in the mix

YES

YES



YES

Verse 2

There's one thing that's on my mind

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

And that's a-getting hold of you before I serve my time

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

I gotta keep on with my heavy load

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

'Til I see you come a-strollin' down that open road

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

Cello Riff

Cello Riff

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

Chorus 2

You gotta Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, before I get you

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES, but lyric changed to You gotta Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, 'fore I get you

Don't you know you gotta Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, or I will get you

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES, but lyric changed to You know you gotta Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, I will get you

Don't you feel it's over Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, I will get you

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



-

-

-



YES

YES

YES



YES, but lyric slightly changed to Don't you feel it's over Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, or I will get you

You know it's all about Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, or I will get you

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES, but lyric changed to You know it's all a' Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, I will get you

Phased String Interlude

Phased String Interlude

-

-

-

-

-

-



YES

YES

YES, but no phasing



-

-

-



-

Instrumental Bridge 2

Solo Guitar Riff #1

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



-

-

-



YES

YES

YES



YES

Solo Guitar Riff #2

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

Drum and Cello Lead-in

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

Cello Riff

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES, with additional guitar riff over the mix

Verse 3

I love you Ma-Ma-Ma Belle

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

That's why I wanna get it on, well I'm sure you can tell

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

I got good soul, runnin' so deep

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

Gonna get you in the corner so that I can keep

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

Cello Riff

Cello Riff

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

Chorus 3

Can't you hear me woman, Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, or I will get you, yeah

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES, but lyric changed to Can't you hear me once, Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, or I will get you

You know I wanna Ma-Ma Belle, or I will get you, yeah

YES

YES

YES

YES

-

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

Can't you go about Ma-Ma Belle, or I will get you, yeah

YES

YES

YES

YES

-

YES



-

-

YES



YES

YES

YES, with additional guitar riffs



YES, but lyric changed to Don't you go about Ma-Ma Belle, I will get you, yeah

'Cause it's all about Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, or I will get you, yeah

YES

YES, but fade begins

YES

YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

-



YES

YES

YES, with additional guitar riffs



YES, but lyric changed to Well, it's all about Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, or I will get you

Chorus 4

You gotta Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, gonna see ya down-town, get 'round

YES

YES, but fades and only You gotta Ma... is heard

YES, but fade begins

YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES, with additional guitar riffs



YES, but lyric changed to You gotta Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, gonna see ya 'round, 'round, down, down

Gonna see about Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, gonna see you 'round, 'round, get 'round, down

YES

-

YES, but only Gonna see about Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma Belle... is heard

YES

YES, but fade begins

YES



YES

YES

YES



YES

YES

YES, with additional guitar riffs



YES, but lyric changed to Gonna see about Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, gonna see you 'round, 'round, get down, down

Gonna see about Ma-- no, belle, I wanna get down, get down, get down

YES

-

-

YES, but fade begins

YES, but fades so that only Gonna see about Ma-- no, belle, I wanna get down... is heard

YES



YES, but fade begins

YES

YES, but fade begins



YES

YES, but fade begins

YES



YES, but lyric changed to Gonna see about Ma Belle, I wanna stay down, down, down and ends with keyboard sounds

Gonna see about Ma-Ma-Ma Belle...

YES

-

-

YES, but fade ends just at the end of the vocal line

-

YES, but fading



YES, but fades so only Gonna see about Ma... is heard

YES

YES, but fades so only Gonna see about... is heard



YES, but includes the full lyric Gonna see about ma-ma-ma belle, I wanna see you 'round with fade beginning and ending on this line with a bit of cello on the end

YES, but includes the full lyric Gonna see about ma-ma-ma belle, I wanna see you 'round with fade ending at the very end of the vocal line

YES, but includes the full lyric Gonna see about ma-ma-ma belle, I wanna see you 'round



YES

Orchestral Album Interlude

Orchestral Album Interlude

YES

-

-

-

-

YES, but quickly faded



-

YES

-



-

-

-



-

Post-song wind down

Instrument stop and some studio chatter

-

-

-

-

-

-



-

-

-



YES, but only very slightly as fade ends here

-

YES



-

Music Charts

These are the known statistics for the UK and USA music charts. As can be seen, the song was only a mild hit in the UK. It was not a hit at all in America, but it's B-side, Daybreaker charted, but only mildly so. As far is as known, the song charted nowhere else in the world at all.

Also, the song charted in 1979 from The ELO EP in Ireland. This is a curious occurrence as compilers of singles charts didn't seem to know how to handle an EP (Extended Play) record. The ELO EP featured Can't Get It Out Of My Head, Strange Magic, Ma-Ma-Ma Belle and Evil Woman. In the UK, it initally appeared on the singles chart as The ELO EP, and then Can't Get It Out Of My Head at the end of it's run. In Ireland, it first charted for three weeks only as Can't Get It Out Of My Head the first week, then changed to Ma-Ma-Ma Belle for the last two weeks. Perhaps they chose the "single" song from the EP based up what was reported as getting the most airplay and/or popular song from the EP.

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

UK Official Top 50 Chart Entry Date: March 9, 1974

43

37

28

24

22(April 6, 1974)

30

43

49

Ma-Ma-Ma Belle USA Billboard Hot 100 Chart Entry Date: Did not chart

Daybreaker USA Billboard Hot 100 Chart Entry Date: May 4, 1974

95

93

91

87(May 25, 1974)

89

Ma-Ma-Ma Belle USA Cash Box Top 100 Chart Entry Date: Did not chart

Daybreaker USA Cash Box Top 100 Chart Entry Date: April 20, 1974

95

89

79

73

68

64

61(June 1, 1974)

62

- - - -

Ma-Ma-Ma Belle Ireland Top 30 Chart Entry Date: December 30, 1978

28 *(December 30, 1978)

19 **

15 **(January 13, 1979)

* The ELO EP charted as Can't Get It Out Of My Head
** The ELO EP charted as Ma-Ma-Ma Belle

Releases

Here are all the legitimate USA and UK (and a few other important international) releases of the song:

Ma-Ma-Ma Belle (Standard Album Release)

Running Time: 3:52

Released On:

On The Third Day LP album (1973 November  USA  United Artists UA-LA 188-F)

On The Third Day album (1973 December 14  UK  Warner Brothers K 56021)

Three Light Years LP album (1978 December 1  UK  Jet JET BX1)

On The Third Day LP album (1978  UK  Jet JET LP 202)

On The Third Day LP album (1978 May  USA  Jet JZ 35525)

On The Third Day LP album (1980  USA  Jet PZ 35525)

On The Third Day CD album (1990  USA  Jet ZK 35525)

On The Third Day digital album (2015 November 13  UK  Epic/Legacy 886445593778)

On The Third Day digital album (2015 November 13  USA  Epic/Legacy 886445593778)

The BBC Sessions CD album (1999 August  UK  Eagle Records EAMCD095) [Although this album claims it is a live BBC recording, in reality this collection contains the studio recording from the Olι ELO album]

All Over The World: The Very Best Of Electric Light Orchestra CD album (2005 June 6  UK  Sony 5201292)

All Over The World: The Very Best Of Electric Light Orchestra digital album (2005 June 6  UK  Sony 827969448922)

All Over The World: The Very Best Of Electric Light Orchestra CD album (2005 August 2  USA  Epic/Legacy EK 94489)

All Over The World: The Very Best Of Electric Light Orchestra digital album (2005 August 2  USA  Epic/Legacy 827969448922)

Strange Magic: The Best Of Electric Light Orchestra CD album (1995  USA  Legacy/Epic Associated Z2K 64157) [the end of Daybreaker (or one of the On The Third Day interludes) is attached to the beginning of the track]

Flashback CD album (2000 November 21  USA  Epic/Legacy E3K 85123)

Flashback CD album (2000 December 11  UK  Epic/Legacy 500931 2)

Flashback CD album (2010 November 8  UK  Sony Music 88697807792)

On The Third Day Remaster CD album (2006 September 11  UK  Epic/Legacy 82796942712)

On The Third Day Remaster digital album (2006 September 11  UK  Epic/Legacy 827969427828)

On The Third Day Remaster CD album (2006 September 12  USA  Legacy EK 94278)

On The Third Day Remaster digital album (2006 September 12  USA  Legacy 827969427828)

Original Album Classics CD album (2010 October 25  Europe  Sony 886997873423)

While Ma-Ma-Ma Belle was never a big hit, it continued to play an important role in ELO's live show. As a heavy rocker, it was a perfect song to be played near the end of the show while the audience was quite excited.

For the On The Third Day tour in 1973 and 1974, the song was played not quite at the end of the show, but just before the big closers of In The Hall Of The Mountain/Great Balls Of Fire and Roll Over Beethoven. The arrangement favored the UK single version with the single's string interlude following the second chorus. For the choruses, bassist Mike deAlbuquerque sang the "Ma-Ma-Ma Belle" parts while Jeff sang the "or I will get you" (or similar) responses. With the excitement of the song, the band added an additional chorus at the end followed by an extended jam session before a big finish to the song. Performances from this tour have been released twice, both on video. These are both on the Electric Light Orchestra Live: The Early Years DVD released in 2010 which includes a performance from February 1, 1974 performance at Brunel University in the UK and another from a October 4, 1974 performance at Szene '74 Studio in Hamburg, Germany. The latter was filmed and broadcast as part of the Szene '74 TV show (later renamed and rebroadcast under the name Rockpalast). There was a performance recorded for the BBC at the Golders Green Hippodrome in London on January 25, 1974 that was broadcast on radio. Although this concert saw official release in 1999 on the Live At The BBC set, Ma-Ma-Ma Belle was excluded from the release. However, as the concert was broadcast several times, it's commonly available as a bootleg. They also performed and recorded the song in Long Beach, California on May 12, 1974 for the The Night The Light Went On In Long Beach album, however the song was also excluded from the final release. It also has been bootlegged.

On the 1974/1975 Eldorado tour, the band performed the same arrangement of the song except bassist Kelly Groucutt sang all of Mike deAlbuquerque's "Ma-Ma-Ma Belle" lines as well as the full second verse. No performance from this tour has been officially released, although some audience recorded bootleg material is available.

On the 1975/1976 Face The Music tour, the same arrangement was also used, however, the song was moved to the next to last song, just before Roll Over Beethoven. On the UK leg of the tour in later 1976, the band preceded the song with a long drum beat section by Bev to help get the audience worked up. Kelly also came on stage and encouraged the audience to clap along and stomp their feet. Several official performances from this tour were released, including a performance in San Francisco (Winterland) on February 14, 1976 that was released on Live At Winterland '76 in 1998. This performance has been widely available for many years thanks to its frequent radio broadcasts and bootlegging. Also officially released are video of the band in London on June 20, 1976 performing the song on Fusion Concert - Live In London in 1990 (taken from a 1970s TV broadcast) and audio in The Portsmouth Guildhall on June 22, 1976 on Live At The BBC in 1999 (taken from a BBC Radio broadcast).

The same arrangement of previous performances was used for the A New World Record and Out Of The Blue tours. No official releases of Ma-Ma-Ma Belle performed on these tours have ever been released, although they exist on various bootlegs.

For the Time tour in 1981/1982, the band abandoned using the song as a big closing number, letting the rocker Don't Bring Me Down and/or Do Ya take the place just before the Roll Over Beethoven finale. Ma-Ma-Ma Belle was instead only performed in truncated format as part of the hits medley part way through the show. It was peformed in the medley between Showdown and Can't Get It Out Of My Head, with only the first two verses (Kelly singing the second one) and choruses performed, followed by a descending guitar riff to segue into Can't Get It Out Of My Head.

For the March 15, 1986 Heartbeat '86 charity concert as well as the very short Balance Of Power tour in July 1986, it was performed in another rock 'n' roll medley. Songs in the medley are Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, followed by Do Ya and Rockaria!. The song is performed as the album version, with Jeff singing all lead vocals, up to the end of the second chorus when the song segues into the intro riff of Do Ya..

The song was to be performed as part of the aborted Zoom tour. Although the tour was aborted, it was performed and recorded as part of the promotion for the tour at CBS Television City in Los Angeles on May 2001. It was again performed in full, but it was about halfway through the show, not at its usual place near the end. The arrangement for this performance was the first and only great departure from the previous tour performances. Here, the song's third verse was replaced with an extended piano solo by Richard Tandy and the fourth chorus is replace by a couple of the main guitar riffs to end the song.

The 2014 Hyde Park performance was the same basic album arrangement with the non-fading end.

Mr. Blue Sky The Very Best Of Electric Light Orchestra album containing newer solo version

Cover Versions

Earthquake from an unknown origin (1975)

OrKestra during live performances from 1987 to 1991

Earl Slick on the Lynne Me Your Ears tribute album (2001)

The Orchestra from live performances (2000s)

P. Hux on his Homemade Spaceship: The Music Of ELO Performed By P. Hux album (5/2005)

3KStatic on their Ma-Ma-Ma Belle download EP (2008)

Electric Live Orchestra during live performances (2008)

Use in Movies and TV Programs

Electric Light Orchestra's Ma-Ma-Ma Belle

This song has not been used in any known movies

Jeff Lynne's solo Ma-Ma-Ma Belle

This song has not been used in any known movies

Use in Advertising

Electric Light Orchestra's Ma-Ma-Ma Belle

This song has not been used in any known advertisements

Jeff Lynne's solo Ma-Ma-Ma Belle

This song has not been used in any known advertisements

Sample Uses

This song has not been sampled in any known songs

Sheet Music

Sheet music as published in the UK.

Promotional Videos and TV Performances

There was no promo video for Ma-Ma-Ma Belle produced. That's actually not too unusual as in the early 1970s, music videos were actually somewhat rare.

The song did feature in several TV programs over the years. In 1973 and 1974, while promoting the song, the band performed the song on November 20, 1973 for the USA TV program, The Midnight Special. This performance was eventually broadcast on the November 23, 1973 and February 8, 1974 episodes. This was supposedly a fully live performance of the song, although it's unconfirmed as this performance is not available in any format, bootleg or otherwise. It also was used on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert on April 20, 1974. This was a mimed performance only, miming to the UK single version. Further, the band performed the song on BBC's Top Of The Pops with Noel Edmonds presenting for a March 14, 1974 broadcast. This performance was rebroadcast on Top Of The Pops with Tony Blackburn presenting on March 21, 1974. This performance has been wiped from the BBC archives and does not survive in any way, but it is assumed to be a mimed performance, likely to the single version.

It continued to feature in ELO's live show, so it saw further performances on TV in later shows, all as fully live performances. It was featured in the set performed on Szene '74 on October 4, 1974. This show was later renamed as Rockpalast and it featured on a rebroadcast at an undetermined date. It was also featured in the band's set for the June 20, 1976 concert at Victoria Theatre (now called the Apollo Victoria) that was broadcast as the Fusion Concert. The performance for Fusion Concert was released on videotape in the UK in 1990 (Fusion Concert - Live In London Pickwick PTR 2152). Both of these performances have been released as part of the Electric Light Orchestra Live: The Early Years DVD in August 2010 (Eagle Vision EREDV780). They can be seen HERE and HERE respectively. It was apparently recorded as part of the Out Of The Blue's UK Wembley concert that was also broadcast on TV in 1978, but this song was not part of the broadcast and has never surfaced, so it is probably lost.

For the March 15, 1986 broadcast as part of the Heartbeat '86 charity concert, benefitting Birmingham Children's Hospital, a very peculiar thing happened regarding this song. At the concert, the band performed a medley of their heavier songs, including, in order of performance, Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, Do Ya and Rockaria!. However, for the broadcast, the Ma-Ma-Ma Belle portion was edited out and the medley started directly with Do Ya. The full medley exists only as a bootleg. Further, it was also performed at the April 20, 2001 concert for VH1 Storytellers, but the song was not used for the eventual broadcast. This performance has not been bootlegged in any way.

Finally, the song was featured at the May 2001 CBS Television City concert in Los Angeles as part of the Zoom Tour Live concert broadcast across the US on PBS stations. This performance was released on the Zoom Tour Live VHS videotape and DVD in November 2001.

Fan Comments

Enter comments only about this song. (Inappropriate comments will be removed.)

I love this song. I loved to read all about it. Thank you so much!

Tell the world what you think about Ma-Ma-Ma Belle.

-Fan artwork by Lynnette "Cicky" Johansson

Quotations

Ma-Ma-Ma Belle (Standard Album Release)
"...and the new single due out in two weeks will shock a lot of them as well. It's the nearest thing ELO has yet done to a hefty rock record, and the cellos thump away like Dumbo on heat. It's called Ma-Ma-Ma Belle"Rob Mackie (January 12, 1974 Sounds)

"... Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, a rather blatant plagiarism of Mott the Hoople's Jerkin' Crocus of recent vintage. Its pounding chords and heavy-metal blaze are somewhat out of character for ELO, although they come close to the power of the original. But they fall short, in both lyrics and delivery, in their total lack of humor about themselves and the music, a fault that may one day prove their downfall."Greg Shaw (January 31, 1974 Rolling Stone #153)

"ELO have had four hit singles, but nothing since Ma-Ma-Ma Belle and that was quite a time ago. No singles have been released since and as far as Jeff and Bev are concerned they would be quite happy if none were released again."Colin Irwin (September 1974 - Sounds)

"Ma-Ma-Ma Belle was not a million crotchets removed from Honky Tonk Women [sic]. Or maybe it was Brown Sugar."Bob Edmands (February 1975 - New Musical Express)

"A rock & roll classic and the one we can't figure out. Should have been ELO's first giant his single but wasn't-- still a big concert favorite. But the Do It With The Light On campaign is a tremendous success and paves the way for the next album..."Author Unknown (June 1976 - liner notes for Olι ELO album)

"Side two [of On The Third Day] contains the second single taken from the LP, Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, which is a great heavy-metal piece reminiscent of Do Ya. This too was covered; Earthquake performed it live and it appears on their Rockin' The World album."Joel Bellman (December 1976 - Trouser Press #17)

"On the early songs like Showdown and Ma Ma Belle [sic] ('73) we were still trying to find our way musically, but I can still listen to these tracks and smile and think how important they seemed at the time, even though at some of our shows we outnumbered the audience!"Jeff Lynne (November 1979 ELO's Greatest Hits)

"Then, an atmospheric piano intro lulls the listener into a false sense of security, before the crashing guitars signal the start to one of ELO's most powerful rockers, namely Ma-Ma-Ma Belle. Jeff does his best Mick Jagger impression for four minutes of unashamed raunch. The lyrics are a bit iffy, but the guitars are bone crunching enough to drown them out."Andrew Whiteside (1987 - Face The Music fanzine #3)

"...there's 'three or four babies sittin' on my knee' in Ma-Ma-Ma Belle."Neil Frost (1987 - Face The Music fanzine #3)

"It was also very interesting to discover (again from the tape box) that Auntie and My Woman were early versions of the next ELO hit single, Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, which was released in March, 1974..."John Tobler (1991 liner notes for Early ELO (1971-1973))

"One week [after April 10, 1973] E.L.O. had another recording session for Harvest to record Showdown and Ma-Ma-Ma Belle (working titles were Bev's Trousers and Auntie). Marc Bolan [of T. Rex fame] joined in and played electric guitar on those tracks. He wasn't credited on any sleeves, because it was very difficult in those days to play together with friends who were signed to another record company. Companies gave no courtesy or no permission, and thus many related works had to be done incognito."Patrik Guttenbacher, Marc Haines, & Alexander von Petersdorff (1996 Unexpected Messages)

"This one features two lead guitarists, me & Marc Bolan, playing the main riff together."Jeff Lynne (2000 - Flashback)

"For their next album, On The Third Day, Jeff eased off on the bombast and delivered stirring rock songs like Ma-Ma-Ma Belle (one of rock's greatest opening riffs) and Showdown."Jim Irvin (August, 2001 - The Bullring Variations article in Mojo)

"I'd become friends with Marc Bolan when I was with the Idle Race. We used to play at the same places now and again. When we were recording ELO 2 at Air Studios in Oxford Circus, in the next studio was Marc Bolan. He used to pop into our sessions for a bit of a jam and a few laughs. I think Marc played on three songs, Ma-Ma-Belle [sic], Dreaming of 4000 & Everyone's Born [sic] etc."Jeff Lynne (2002 - liner notes for ELO 2 remaster CD)

"Ma-Ma-Ma-Belle, probably the heaviest piece of music ELO ever recorded, followed [Showdown] as a single and featured an uncredited Marc Bolan playing twin-lead guitar with Lynne. On The Third Day, the album from which the single was taken, achieved a silver sales award in America and was the beginning of the group's successes in that country."Author Unknown (March 31, 2003 - website only expanded liner notes for ELO 2 remaster CD)

"Auntie Take 2 is Ma-Ma-Ma Belle. There was no further recording done for what eventually became the released version back in 1973. ...What you hear on the original released version is Jeff mixing his vocal back in the mix and adding effects which he felt were necessary back in 1973."Rob Caiger (April 1, 2003 - Showdown mailing list)

"Critics like to say [Jeff] got his ideas from others for early hits like Showdown (Marvin Gaye), Ma-Ma-Ma Belle (the Rolling Stones) and Can't Get It Out Of My Head (the Beatles). But it was never that easy."Don Arden (2004 - Mr. Big)

"The track listing [for All Over The World: The Very Best Of Electric Light Orchestra] was also modified following Jeff's instructions and Showdown, Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, and Xanadu (Flashback version) [were] added."Rob Caiger (May 28, 2005 - Showdown mailing list)

"I'd known Marc a little bit from the Idle Race days, uh, when we used to meet on... on the road now and again. We'd be doing the same type of gig. And, uh, sometimes the BBC recording sessions, when they used to make those programs and record like about four or five groups. And, uh, the main time, I mention, when we really got to be friends was in AIR Studios when we was actually making this... Ma-Ma Belle [sic]. And he said, 'Oh! Let's have a go at that.' And he had his... I remember he had his Firebird and I was playing a... I think I was playing a Telecaster, I'm not sure. And we just played it together in the studio. Y'know, he picked it up real easy and knew it and so we played all the way through together."Jeff Lynne (July 5, 2005 - Face The Music: The Story of the Electric Light Orchestra BBC 2 Radio show)

"Jeff Lynne was a great bloke. I recall a time at Salford University, when me and drummer Bev Bevan were looking for Jeff, when we went into the toilet and heard music, it turned out to be Jeff sat on the toilet with his guitar writing the song Ma-Ma-Ma Belle. Not something you forget in a hurry."Tony Beard (March 21, 2006 - Coventry Evening Telegraph)

"The main time I met [Marc Bolan], when we really got to be friends, was in Air Studios when we were making Ma-Ma-Ma Belle and he said, 'oh, let's have a go at that!' I remember he had his Firebird and I was playing a Telecaster and we just played together in the studio. He picked it up real easy and knew it and so we played all the way through together, that was really fun."Jeff Lynne (July 31 2006 - The Harvest Years 1970-1973 liner notes)

"I feel that I've told the story of Mark [sic] Bolan playing double lead guitar with me on Ma-Ma-Ma Belle so many times that I won't mention it again. Anyway, it's true. What a nice thing!"Jeff Lynne (September 11 2006 - On The Third Day remaster liner notes)

"With Lynne producing, six songs were quickly recorded: Bev's Trousers no.7 (Showdown), In The Hole Of The Mounted Parrot (stage favourite In The Hall Of The Mountain King), Daybreaker, Dreaming Of 4000, Auntie (Ma-Ma-Ma Belle) and Everyone's Born To Die). The last three songs also included a friend of Lynne's on guitar who he had known since his Idle Race days in the Sixties. ...in America, the [Ma-Ma-Ma Belle] single was promoted as a double A-side with Daybreaker which the band were using to open their concerts."Rob Caiger (September 11 2006 - On The Third Day remaster liner notes)

"The band's third release, the aptly titled On the Third Day, featured Ma-Ma-Ma Belle and In the Hall of the Mountain King."Rock Cesario (October 16, 2006 - The Daily Sentinal (Grand Junction, Colorado))

"On The Third Day (1973) provided ELO with the bluesy Showdown and gritty rocker Ma-Ma-Ma Belle -- both of which became 'deep cut' FM radio staples."Lindsay Planer (November 6, 2006 - MusicTAP On The Third Day, Face The Music and A New World Record remaster review)

"Stylistically the [On The Third Day] CD features... straight-ahead rockers (Showdown and Ma-Ma-Ma Belle)..."Barry Nothstine (2006 - The Phantom Tollbooth On The Third Day, Face The Music and A New World Record remaster review)

"Rounding the [On The Third Day] album out is Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, which, in the vein of latter-day Move singles like Lightning Never Strikes Twice and Brontosaurus, is about as hard rock as ELO gets..."Rob Horning (2007 February 16 - On The Third Day, Face The Music and A New World Record reissue review on popmatters.com)

"An added plus to the hit song Ma-Ma-Ma-Belle [sic] is the presence of T-Rex frontman Marc Bolan on guitar. That song and Showdown became the band's first real hits for the AM radio crowd."Scott Homewood (2007 February 2 - On The Third Day, Face The Music and A New World Record reissue review on cdreviews.com)

"I also like to write on guitar, usually for more up-tempo songs like Rockaria!, Showdown and Ma-Ma-Ma Belle."Jeff Lynne (Summer 2007 - Yamaha All Access)

"It's not widely known but Marc Bolan once joined ELO! We'd been friends with Marc since the early days of Tyrannosaurus Rex, with whom we'd appeared at a number of gigs - but a chance encounter in the recording studio led to something more. We were at AIR [Studios] London, putting down some new tracks for an album ["On The Third Day"], and who should walk in but Marc, who had been recording there earlier in the day. After we exchanged pleasantries we got down to work with Marc joining us and we completed a couple of tracks. Listen to the single version of: "Ma Ma Ma Belle" and it's Marc playing twin lead guitar with Jeff Lynne."Bev Bevan (September 16, 2012 - Sunday Mirror)

"Of the 12 ELO studio albums, Lynne said his favorite is 1973's On The Third Day, which contains the beloved Showdown and Ma-Ma-Ma Belle. "David Chiu (April 3, 2013 - CBS News online)

"With ELO we did Ma-Ma-Ma Belle in the studio and he played a lot of twin lead guitar parts on that."Bev Bevan (March 5, 2014 - Hit Channel website interview)

"Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, whose original recording featured the guitar of Lynne's old mate Marc Bolan (who happened to be in the studio next door), proves that ELO could seriously ROCK..."Simon Price (2014 September 16 - The Quietus article entitled The Jesus Of Uncool Has Risen: ELO Live)

"The [On The Third Day] albums most commercial moment was Ma-Ma-Ma Belle. This was and always would remain one of the most powerful rockers in the entire ELO catalogue, and a regular favourite in the set list on stage. Musically it was close to classic Rolling Stones territory, although some suggested that it had more than a passing resemblance to Mott the Hooples Jerkin Crocus. [...] Ma-Ma-Ma Belle was released as a single in March, and despite an active touring schedule as well as another appearance on Top Of The Pops, it never rose higher than No. 22. [...] Daybreaker was included on the American B-side of Ma-Ma-Ma Belle but attracted more airplay and was listed as the A-side on the charts, in which it made No. 87. [...] On the week ending 13 January [1979]... a four-track EP featuring Cant Get It Out Of My Head, Strange Magic, Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, and Evil Woman fell six places to No. 40 in the British singles chart..."John Van der Kiste (August 2015 - Jeff Lynne: Electric Light Orchestra - Before and After)

"ELO has always had a strong rock catalog, with hits like Do Ya, Evil Woman, and Ma-Ma-Ma Belle to back up the more adventurous tunes in their repertoire."William Hoffman (October 16, 2015 - Music Times)

"Part of my trouble with the band is Mr. Lynne himself. I like to look a man in the eye before I play air guitar to his towering riffs like that on Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, and the guy (who is sighted) has not removed his sunglasses in public in 40 years."Mark Spitz (November 27, 2015 - Salon)

"When ELO wanted to turn up the volume, they did so effortlessly. Take a listen to the soaring instrumental Fire on High, the adventurous Poker, Ma-Ma-Ma Belle or Do Ya, which rocked hard enough that Ace Frehley took a stab at it on his 1989 album, Trouble Walkin."Michael Christopher (November 10, 2016 - Ultimate Classic Rock online magazine)

"The guitar-heavy Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, which was my introduction to the band, and the Motown-inspired Showdown are the hits [on On The Third Day]."Ricky Flake (2017 September 8 - The Sun Herald)

Ma-Ma-Ma Belle (Edited UK Single Version)
This version is different from the On The Third Day album version in that it has several cuts. After the first chorus, it splits the guitar riffs, using the first half of the first guitar riff and the second half of the second guitar riff and altogether cutting the cello riff between the two guitar riffs. It cuts the line "...Ma-ma-ma belle, or I will get you, Don't you feel it's over..." from the second chorus. It includes a flanged string interlude and cuts the first guitar riff after the second chorus. It cuts the line "Can't you go about Ma-ma-ma belle, or I will get you, yeah" from the third chorus. Finally, it fades earlier on the line "Gonna see about ma-- no, belle, I wanna get down, get down, get down" and includes a bit of the beginning of Dreaming Of 4000 in the fade out.

"WB released one single off the [On The Third Day] album, the natural choice, Ma-Ma-Ma Belle (Warner Brothers Kl6349), the only song that could have been released, really. They wisely edited the weird piano and chimes at the beginning, and the haunting cello at the end, but wait - what's this? 2/3 of the way into the song, one of the guitar riffs has been edited, and then suddenly, for no apparent reason, the whole song stops dead and a lone cello plays a rising note, and the song starts again. To be honest, it sounds bloody awful. This is the first occasion an ELO track can actually be said to have suffered from a iconoclastic engineer, and unfortunately, it wasn't to be the last. The B-side was Oh No Not Susan, a straight lift from the LP (although interestingly enough, the song fades into the intro of New World Rising, though there wasn't much else they could have done, really), and the label design once again (as were all of ELO's WB releases), the 'avenue' drawing. The botched remix of Ma-Ma-Ma Belle scuppered its chances of being a major hit, and it could only manage No.22, remaining in the chart for 8 weeks. Today, the single is worth £2.75 mint."Andrew Whiteside (1987 - Face The Music fanzine #3)

"Early in 1974 the track Ma-Ma-Ma Belle was lifted [from the On The Third Day album] as a special single version. The second chorus was edited by mixing a cello tone with the range of all notes that could be played on the cello. [...] Jet [Records] once again changed their distributor [...] to United Artists, in Europe at the end of summer 1976. [...] United Artists re-released all regular E.L.O. albums since On The Third Day... ...The UK issue [of On The Third Day] of that series included something special: The Ma-Ma-Ma Belle single edited version(!)."Patrik Guttenbacher, Marc Haines, & Alexander von Petersdorff (1996 Unexpected Messages)Editor's Note: The UA LP version mentioned here was slightly longer than the UK single version.

"An edited and remixed version of Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, probably the heaviest piece of music ELO ever recorded, was released as a single and made the U.K. Top 30..."Rob Caiger (September 11 2006 - On The Third Day remaster liner notes)

This sample is the Ma-Ma-Ma Belle segment forward, then backward, then the section of Dreaming Of 4000 that it's taken from.

The UK single version of Ma-Ma-Ma Belle contains a unique rising string interlude following the second chorus that is not heard on the album version. This short segment is actually lifted from the song Dreaming Of 4000 where it is extracted from that song, flipped backwards, a flange effect is added and it's inserted into Ma-Ma-Ma Belle's UK single mix.

Ma-Ma-Ma Belle (Edited USA Single Version)
This version is the same as the standard On The Third Day version but it fades earlier, beginning at the second half of the last chorus and ending at the line "You gotta ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma belle, gonna see you down, down, get down" so that all is heard is "You gotta ma-ma-ma-ma...", thus no part of Dreaming Of 4000 is heard.

"Early in 1974 the track Ma-Ma-Ma Belle was lifted [from the On The Third Day album] as a special single version. The second chorus was edited by mixing a cello tone with the range of all notes that could be played on the cello. [...] Jet [Records] once again changed their distributor [...] to United Artists, in Europe at the end of summer 1976. [...] United Artists re-released all regular E.L.O. albums since On The Third Day... ...The UK issue [of On The Third Day] of that series included something special: The Ma-Ma-Ma Belle single edited version(!)."Patrik Guttenbacher, Marc Haines, & Alexander von Petersdorff (1996 Unexpected Messages)

Ma-Ma-Ma Belle (Edited USA Mono Single Version)
This is a mono version of the USA single version of Ma-Ma-Ma Belle.

Ma-Ma-Ma Belle (Edited Olι ELO Version)
This version is the same as the standard On The Third Day version but it fades earlier at the line "Gonna see about ma-ma-ma-ma belle, gonna see you 'round, 'round, get 'round, down" so that all is heard is "Gonna see about ma-ma-ma-ma...", thus no part of Dreaming Of 4000 is heard.

Ma-Ma-Ma Belle (Edited UA LP Version)
This is an odd one. It's a version that slipped out on a UK re-issue of On The Third Day (stock # UAG 30091) on United Artists, apparently having the incorrect version of the song on it. This version is different from the On The Third Day album version in that it has several cuts. It's basicaly the same as the UK single edit, but includes a wee bit more on the fade out (the same as on the regular album version). After the first chorus, it splits the guitar riffs, using the first half of the first guitar riff and the second half of the second guitar riff and altogether cutting the cello riff between the two guitar riffs. It cuts the line "...Ma-ma-ma belle, or I will get you, Don't you feel it's over..." from the second chorus. It includes a flanged string interlude and cuts the first guitar riff after the second chorus. It cuts the line "Can't you go about Ma-ma-ma belle, or I will get you, yeah" from the third chorus. Finally, it fades earlier on the line "Gonna see about ma-ma belle..." and includes a bit of the beginning of Dreaming Of 4000 in the fade out.

Ma-Ma-Ma Belle (Edited ELO EP Version)
This version, available only on the 1978 The ELO EP, is the basic standard version but it fades and ends just at the last vocal line is heard. Other releases have similar fades, but they all fade a little earlier or later than this version. This unique fade has never been released anywhere else.

Ma-Ma-Ma Belle (Edited 18 Greatest Hits LP Version)
This version, found on the Australian 18 Greatest Hits LP from 1984, differs from the original On The Third Day version in that it cuts two lines from the third chorus and two lines ("You know you want ma-ma-ma-ma belle, I wanna get down" and "can't you go about ma... no, belle, I wanna get down") from the ending.

Ma-Ma-Ma Belle (Edited Afterglow Version)
This is an edit of the standard On The Third Day album version. At the song's end, instead of playing the whole string and keyboard interlude at the song's end, it fades very quickly after the last faded Ma-Ma-Ma Belle lyric is heard, although it still includes part of the string interlude. This version first appears on the 1990 Afterglow compilation. It also appeared on the 1995 Strange Magic: The Best Of Electric Light Orchestra compilation which mistakenly puts the end of Daybreaker (aka an On The Third Day interlude) on the beginning of Ma-Ma-Ma Belle

Ma-Ma-Ma Belle (Edited Light Years Version)
The Light Years and Ultimate Collection collections claim that this is the UK single version, but it is not. It's derivative of that mix, but there are several key differences. It is different from the On The Third Day album version in that it has several cuts. On the first two guitar riffs following the first chorus, the fidelity drops noticeably after the first half of the first guitar riff. It cuts the line "...Ma-ma-ma belle, or I will get you, You know it's over but..." from the second chorus. It includes the string interlude and cuts the first guitar riff after the second chorus as heard on the UK single version, but the string interlude is not flanged here. It also cuts the first guitar riff after the second chorus and the line "...Ma-ma-ma belle, or I will get you, yeah, Now it's all about..." from the third chorus. Finally, it fades a bit early on the line "Gonna see about ma-- no, belle, I wanna get down, get down, get down" but does it so quickly that all can be heard is "Gonna see about ma..." and no part of Dreaming Of 4000 is heard.

Auntie (Ma-Ma-Ma Belle Take 1)
This is the first take of Ma-Ma-Ma Belle sounding much like a practice take. It has no lyrics and is just the guitar, bass and drums playing the first part of the song up until the end of the first chorus. It also has the tape lead in and lead out containing the warm up, count in and non-fading end.

"I remembered a lot when I listened back to what you've done. It's just like being there again in the studio, straight back. I can hear it all on the Auntie's (Ma-Ma-Ma Bell) especially and that just how we did it in the studio, live."Richard Tandy (March 2003 - Face The Music (fanclub) News Bulletin)

"The early attempts at Ma-Ma-Ma-Belle called Auntie, Dreaming of 4000 called Mambo, Everyone's Born To Die and the never-before-available Interludes are all newly-appointed extras [on the On The Third Day remaster]."Lindsay Planer (November 6, 2006 - MusicTAP On The Third Day, Face The Music and A New World Record remaster review)

Auntie (Ma-Ma-Ma Belle Take 2 Early Mix #1)
This song first appeared on the 1991 Early ELO (1971-1973) and was labeled on there as Auntie (Ma-Ma-Ma Belle - Early Version). This version is an early experiment with the mix of guitars and is missing all backing vocals. It is different from the On The Third Day album version in that it has several edits. The guitar, drum and cello lead-in before the very first verse has some guitar mixed out. The second half of the guitar riff following the first chorus has some guitar mixed out. The two guitar riffs just before the second verse and pushed way down in the mix and are barely audible. It also fades a bit later, including the full lyric of "Gonna see about ma-ma belle, I'm gonna see you 'round" and the next part just as the song falls apart (as heard on the Auntie (Ma-Ma-Ma Belle Take 2) version).

"It was also very interesting to discover (again from the tape box) that Auntie and My Woman were early versions of the next ELO hit single, Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, which was released in March, 1974..."John Tobler (1991 liner notes for Early ELO (1971-1973))

"...The two early Ma-Ma-Ma-Belle's [sic], Auntie and My Woman, were joined by another relative, Auntie Bollocks. This is (most) of what you hear on CD, though for us sensitive souls (and EMI's legal dept!), the title is shortened to Auntie-- which does not appear in the song at all! Confused? You will be! Auntie Bollocks begins by tuning up, with the first set of chords lightly strummed (Marc Bolan or Jeff?), before launching into the familiar guitar riff which is where the CD version starts. What is noticeable is the that the mix is all over the place, guitars are faded down, with sections apparently out of time. The vocal doesn't fade at the end, it stops dead whilst the cellos carry on for a few more bars. There is a brief silence followed by fluid high pitched guitar playing with the cellos for about five seconds; another pause, spoken voices in the background and then sharp loud buzzing (guitars being plugged in/out?), more strumming, then straight into Auntie, the next take. The mix here is almost the finished version, and was excluded."Rob Caiger (1992 - Face The Music fanzine #10)

"[The early version of Ma-Ma-Ma Belle and Showdown] on Early ELO (which sadly I didn't have any control over at the time) were trial early stereo mixes, prepared by Jeff from the [original] multitracks in 1973. I did find better mixes but we decided to go back to the source [for release on ELO 2]."Rob Caiger (April 1, 2003 - Showdown mailing list)

My Woman (Ma-Ma-Ma Belle Take 2 Early Mix #2)
This song first appeared on the 1991 Early ELO (1971-1973) and was labeled on there as My Woman (Ma-Ma-Ma Belle - Early Version). This version is an early experiment with the mix of cellos and is missing all backing vocals. It is different from the On The Third Day album version in that it has several edits. The guitar, drum and cello lead-in before the very first verse has some guitar mixed out. Some cellos are mixed out from the guitar and cellos riffs between the first chorus and second verse It completely cuts the cello riff between the second verse and the second chorus. It also fades a bit later, including the full lyric of "Gonna see about ma-ma belle, I'm gonna see you 'round" and the next part just as the song falls apart (as heard on the Auntie (Ma-Ma-Ma Belle Take 2) version).

"It was also very interesting to discover (again from the tape box) that Auntie and My Woman were early versions of the next ELO hit single, Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, which was released in March, 1974..."John Tobler (1991 liner notes for Early ELO (1971-1973))

"The next track, My Woman, was 'found laying on an 8-track machine' in the vaults. It was recorded in May 1973, well before the Warner Bros. move. There are a few subtle differences, mainly in the different guitar and cello mix, and again it was edited for release. A shame, as this features the longest ending, with the cellos fading to a natural stop."Rob Caiger (1992 - Face The Music fanzine #10)

"[The early version of Ma-Ma-Ma Belle and Showdown] on Early ELO (which sadly I didn't have any control over at the time) were trial early stereo mixes, prepared by Jeff from the [original] multitracks in 1973. I did find better mixes but we decided to go back to the source [for release on ELO 2]."Rob Caiger (April 1, 2003 - Showdown mailing list)

I've also dropped Ma-Ma-Ma Belle [from the 2006 The Collection compilation] as this was a mix previously on Early ELO and not approved by management."Rob Caiger (February 28, 2006 - Showdown mailing list)

Auntie (Ma-Ma-Ma Belle Take 2 Early Mix #3)
This song first appeared on the 2003 ELO 2 remaster and was labeled on there as Auntie Auntie (Ma-Ma-Ma Belle Take 2). This version is the raw, unmixed version of the take that would eventually become the song that was released on On The Third Day. This version differs from the usual On The Third Day version in that it's got louder, crunchier guitars, the vocals are much more up front in the mix, at about the [2:30] mark-- just after the guitar solo about before the start of the third verse-- there's a quick, funky little guitar riff that is very unique, and there is a different high pitched guitar (played by Marc Bolan) playing over the repeating closeout of the song using lots of whammy effects on it. This is the full take, with no fade out, but rather the band just winding down and stopping their playing.

"I remembered a lot when I listened back to what you've done. It's just like being there again in the studio, straight back. I can hear it all on the Auntie's (Ma-Ma-Ma Bell) especially and that just how we did it in the studio, live."Richard Tandy (March 2003 - Face The Music (fanclub) News Bulletin)

"Marc [Bolan's] on take 2 [of Ma-Ma-Ma Belle] - his guitar is slightly higher pitched than Jeff's. Both are doubling up and layering at least 4 tracks of guitars in addition to each having a channel for solo guitar. The extra guitar part at 2:26 is Marc's. Auntie Take 2 is Ma-Ma-Ma Belle. There was no further recording done for what eventually became the released version back in 1973. The vocal is as you would have heard it if you had been sitting in Air Studios - which both Jeff, Richard, Bev and Mike enthusiastically confirmed - full on, up in the mix.What you hear on the original released version is Jeff mixing his vocal back in the mix and adding effects which he felt were necessary back in 1973. The mix here is live, raw and deliberately presented to show just how great a live band ELO were in the studio in those early days."Rob Caiger (April 1, 2003 - Showdown mailing list)

"Auntie is a fascinating early take of Jeff Lynne's Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, featuring the songwriter and producer on twin-lead guitar with Marc Bolan."Rob Caiger (March 2004 - liner notes for Early Years album)

"An early Ma-Ma-Ma Belle reveals one of the great undiscovered riffs with its with its marvellous T.Rex grift."Stevie Chick (March 2004 - MOJO, issue no. 124)

Auntie Bollocks (Ma-Ma-Ma Belle - Early Version)
This version is described in a 1992 Face The Music fanzine article about the Early ELO (1971-1973) album as an alternate, unreleased version. It states that the felt they had enough of the alternate versions on the collection, so this was remains unreleased. It may be that this is the same version as the "Take 2" version released as a bonus track on the 2006 On The Third Day remaster, but that remains unconfirmed. If so, then the studio banter before and after the song as described in the Face The Music article have been removed.

"...The two early Ma-Ma-Ma-Belle's [sic], Auntie and My Woman, were joined by another relative, Auntie Bollocks. This is (most) of what you hear on CD, though for us sensitive souls (and EMI's legal dept!), the title is shortened to Auntie-- which does not appear in the song at all! Confused? You will be! Auntie Bollocks begins by tuning up, with the first set of chords lightly strummed (Marc Bolan or Jeff?), before launching into the familiar guitar riff which is where the CD version starts. What is noticeable is the that the mix is all over the place, guitars are faded down, with sections apparently out of time. The vocal doesn't fade at the end, it stops dead whilst the cellos carry on for a few more bars. There is a brief silence followed by fluid high pitched guitar playing with the cellos for about five seconds; another pause, spoken voices in the background and then sharp loud buzzing (guitars being plugged in/out?), more strumming, then straight into Auntie, the next take."Rob Caiger (1992 - Face The Music fanzine #10)

Ma-Ma-Ma Belle (Long Beach May 12, 1974)
"Still, it was the rockers like Ma Ma Ma Bell [sic], and those spiced with a tinge of classical aplomb which brought the audience to their feet and racing down the aisles."Barry Taylor (April 27, 1974 - Billboard review of April 3, 1974 show)

Ma-Ma-Ma Belle (London June 20, 1976)
"There followed a mass outbreak of clapping for Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, a great song, and also features an acrobatic cameraman, just how did he get that shot?"Rob Caiger (1991 - Face The Music fanzine #9)

"Firstly though, how does the packaging for the Live At Wembley - The Out Of The Blue Tour VHS videotape] compare to the previous videos? The concert after all, was a supremely visual affair. The cover consists of a number of colour stills of ELO live, but there are no full-length shots of the spaceship in all its glory. The blurb on the back is intelligently written, informative and (for once!) mostly accurate (no rubbish about the concert being at Wembley Stadium in front of 80,000 people, but it does list Ma-Ma-Ma-Belle as being on it, when of course it isn't!), so it just about balances out the unexciting cover."Andrew Whiteside (1990 - Face The Music fanzine #7)

ELO Hits Medley #1 (Time Tour)
This song was performed as one long medley of ELO hits during the USA leg of the Time tour. All songs were performed only in part and tended to blend together. Songs include:

Showdown - First two verses, the first chorus, the guitar solo (with no string interlude), the third chorus and an instrumental ending.

Ma-Ma-Ma Belle - First two verses and choruses, before a descending guitar part segues into the next song. Kelly sings lead on the second verse parts.

Can't Get It Out Of My Head - First two verses, the first two choruses and the instrumental bridge.

Strange Magic - Guitar intro, a single chorus, and part of the repeated ending section.

Fire On High - One sequence of each of the main guitar riff sections.

Turn To Stone - Almost the full Out Of The Blue album version, but with the middle part of the song and the third chorus cut. It uses the first half of the second verse (ending with "still glow upon the wall so bright") and goes right to the last half of the third verse (starting with "through all I sit here and I wait"), thus cutting everything in between including the fast vocal bridge.

Standin' In The Rain - Piano intro, the orchestral "rainy day" part, and a few bits from the song's middle.

Mr. Blue Sky - Much of the Out Of The Blue album version, but cuts everything between the first chorus and the fifth verse ("Mister blue, you did it right"), then everything is cut after the fifth verse.

Sweet Talkin' Woman - Violin intro, first two verses and first two choruses and vocoder, followed by a repeat of the "I gotta get back to you" line before merging into the next song.

Shine A Little Love - Intro (not including the choral intro) and the verse two verses and choruses.

Last Train To London - Everything up to and including the first chorus with an instrumental bridge section added on at the end.

Confusion - First and third verses and choruses, but cuts all the CS-80 keyboard parts. The repeated ending is also included, but is greatly shortened.

Rockaria! - Almost the full A New World Record album version, but cuts the fourth verse ("now listen here baby she said to me...") is completely cut. The bridge is extended with a solo piano part and Kelly sings all the opera bits and the second verse.

The UK and European performances were similar, but replaced Strange Magic with Wild West Hero and addedDo Ya between Confusion and Rockaria!.

"But the evening built to the inevitable: a long, impeccably organized medley of ELO's greatest hits, from Can't Get It Out Of My Head on through their current smash, Hold On Tight."Ken Tucker (September 26, 1981 - concert review in the Herald Examiner)Editor's Note: The reviewer obviously got events mixed up as the medley did not start with Can't Get It Out Of My Head and although Hold On Tight was performed that night, it was certainly not part of the hits medley.

"[The band] simply launch into a medley of almost a dozen hits, including Showdown, Strange Magic and Can't Get It Out Of My Head."Lennox Samuels (November 1981 - Milwaukee Sentinel)

"[The Time tour USA] set list differs to UK - Strange Magic played instead of Wild West Hero, and Do Ya performed complete, whilst Don't Bring Me Down performed minus audience participation."Rob Caiger (1992 - Face The Music fanzine #13)

"In the USA they played Strange Magic instead of Wild West Hero [and] Do Ya as another encore in its full version. On Do Ya, by the way Jeff played the heaviest guitar riff he ever played on it."Patrik Guttenbacher, Marc Haines, & Alexander von Petersdorff (1996 Unexpected Messages)

"With an ever-growing back catalogue of hits, Jeff and the group found that compromises had to be made if they were going to include as many as possible without an excessively long show. 1981 was, in Britain at least, the year of Stars On 45, Hooked On Classics (courtesy of Louis Clark and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra), and a plethora of other medleys in the singles charts. To their credit, ELO never stooped to cashing in on the trend by recording a medley of their hits as a single, but they did feature one on stage..."John Van der Kiste (August 2015 - Jeff Lynne: Electric Light Orchestra - Before and After)

ELO Hits Medley #2 (Time Tour)
This song was performed as one long medley of ELO hits during the UK and European leg of the Time tour. All songs were performed only in part and tended to blend together. Songs include:

Showdown - First two verses, the first chorus, the guitar solo (with no string interlude), the third chorus and an instrumental ending.

Ma-Ma-Ma Belle - First two verses and choruses, before a descending guitar part segues into the next song. Kelly sings lead on the second verse parts.

Can't Get It Out Of My Head - First two verses, the first two choruses and the instrumental bridge.

Wild West Hero - Acappella section ("ride the range..." to "...wish I could be") and the long "wish I was a Wild West Hero" section that ends the song.

Fire On High - One sequence of each of the main guitar riff sections.

Turn To Stone - Almost the full Out Of The Blue album version, but with the middle part of the song and the third chorus cut. It uses the first half of the second verse (ending with "still glow upon the wall so bright") and goes right to the last half of the third verse (starting with "through all I sit here and I wait"), thus cutting everything in between including the fast vocal bridge.

Standin' In The Rain - Piano intro, the orchestral "rainy day" part, and a few bits from the song's middle.

Mr. Blue Sky - Much of the Out Of The Blue album version, but cuts everything between the first chorus and the fifth verse ("Mister blue, you did it right"), then everything is cut after the fifth verse.

Sweet Talkin' Woman - Violin intro, first two verses and first two choruses and vocoder, followed by a repeat of the "I gotta get back to you" line before merging into the next song.

Shine A Little Love - Intro (not including the choral intro) and the verse two verses and choruses.

Last Train To London - Everything up to and including the first chorus with an instrumental bridge section added on at the end.

Confusion - First and third verses and choruses, but cuts all the CS-80 keyboard parts. The repeated ending is also included, but is greatly shortened.

Do Ya - First verse and chorus with an extended guitar intro at the beginning.

Rockaria! - Almost the full A New World Record album version, but cuts the fourth verse ("now listen here baby she said to me...") is completely cut. The bridge is extended with a solo piano part and Kelly sings all the opera bits and the second verse.

The USA performances were similar, but Strange Magic was replaced with Wild West Hero and Do Ya was not included in the medley as it was played in full later in the show..

"[The Time tour USA] set list differs to UK - Strange Magic played instead of Wild West Hero, and Do Ya performed complete, whilst Don't Bring Me Down performed minus audience participation."Rob Caiger (1992 - Face The Music fanzine #13)

"In the USA they played Strange Magic instead of Wild West Hero [and] Do Ya as another encore in its full version. On Do Ya, by the way Jeff played the heaviest guitar riff he ever played on it."Patrik Guttenbacher, Marc Haines, & Alexander von Petersdorff (1996 Unexpected Messages)

"Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, whose original recording featured the guitar of Lynne's old mate Marc Bolan (who happened to be in the studio next door), proves that ELO could seriously ROCK..."Simon Price (2014 September 16 - The Quietus Hyde Park performance review entitled The Jesus Of Uncool Has Risen: ELO Live)

"Wielding a Gibson Les Paul for most of the 90-minute set [at Hyde Park] and sporting his trademark sunglasses, Lynne bounces through All Over the World, Evil Woman, and Ma Ma Belle [sic] with ease as longtime piano pal Richard Tandy tickles the ivories and Mike Stevens strums an acoustic guitar."Unknown (2015 September 15 - Examiner.com)

"While the show is certainly hits laden, Lynne doesn't completely ignore his earlier material, giving spirited renditions of the hard rock of Ma-Ma-Ma Belle and the power pop of 10538 Overture. The former dispels any notion that this is purely a pop band with its heavy power chords and an army of cellos chugging away while the latter could serve as a blueprint for Cheap Trick."General Jabbo (2015 September 29 - Blinded By Sound website review of Live In Hyde Park)

This page is intended to be a complete record of information on the Electric Light Orchestra song Ma-Ma-Ma Belle. If you notice any errors or omissions, please contact me at jefflynnesongs@gmail.com and let me know. I strive for accuracy.